Corker Encouraged By Bipartisan Discussions That Led To End Of Government Shutdown

Monday, January 22, 2018

Senator Bob Corker said Monday he is encouraged by "bipartisan discussions" that led to the end of a brief government shutdown.

He said, “Shutting down the government was inappropriate, but I am encouraged by the bipartisan discussions that have occurred over the past few days.

“I will continue working with my colleagues on a solution to the number of challenges still before us.

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Senator Corker said he spent the weekend on Capitol Hill meeting with a bipartisan group of more than 20 senators "to find a path forward to end the government shutdown."

Senator Lamar Alexander said, “Shutting down the government of the United States of America should never ever be a bargaining chip for any issue. Period. It should be to governing as chemical warfare is to real warfare. It should be banned.

"I’m glad we’re back to work on reaching an agreement on a two-year budget deal, on needed military spending, on lowering the cost of health insurance for people buying insurance in the individual market, on the DACA bill, and on disaster relief.”

Senator David Perdue said, “It is ridiculous that we were ever in the Schumer Shutdown in the first place. I’m glad to see that Senate Democrats came to their senses and stopped this nonsense. It is frustrating that this is the same proposal that was offered to them days ago before they decided to shut down the government over immigration.

"Senate Democrats took their political stunt a step too far since a majority of Americans support funding the federal government over continuing the DACA program. Clearly, Congress’ budget process is a complete failure. It has only worked four times in the past 43 years, and given the current political dynamics it will never work.

"Tying important policy decisions to the funding process is the reason we end up in these damaging situations. It’s time Congress gets serious about reworking the way we fund the federal government. That way we can start tackling other big ticket items such as fixing our immigration system and beginning to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure.”

Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) issued the following statement after the House passed, with Rep. Graves’ support, a Senate-passed bill to reopen the government:

“The shutdown was a reckless ploy by Democrats to score political points against the president and Republicans in Congress. Their sole accomplishment was creating uncertainty for the troops, for sick children and for all Americans. This shutdown didn’t need to happen.

“I hope we can move past this weekend’s drama and focus on the issues that matter. But if Democrats decide to use shutdown tactics again, I urge my colleagues in the Senate to modernize the Chamber’s operating procedures so government funding bills can pass with a simple majority. Democrat abuse of the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold is failing the American people.”

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